Movie Review: ‘Despicable Me 2’

The trailers for Despicable Me 2 were really appealing, and with this coming out I thought I’d watch the original. The original was great fun and I had such a blast, I wound up getting very excited for this, and Despicable Me 2 does not disappoint. It does continue on with the story, but it goes for something a bit different. The laughs are a plenty and much like the original, it’s a sequel that appeals to both children and adults.

This time around Gru (Steve Carell) has settled into life as a father to Margot (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Elsie Fisher), he’s no longer doing villainy and he’s trying his hand at making jelly and jam as a business. His neighbour Jillian is determined to set him up on a date with someone, and the girls really want him to as well. He’s not interested and instead he wants to focus on his business, but that gets side tracked as he’s recruited by the AVL (Anti Villain League) to help stop an unknown villain. Gru teams up with Lucy (Kristen Wiig) to scout out Mall store owners, where they have tracked the villain. Will Gru get a love life and stop the villain? Will the minions get any more hilarious? Watch the film!

Our director pair is back again, Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud continue the magic they created with the first here. Their passion is strong and it really shines through, they certainly had a lot of fun with this. Our script writers are also back Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul, and what a great job they did, this is one excellent team. Here we have the theme of finding love, and our youngest girl Agnes is perhaps the one most pushing for Gru to find someone. Not only does she want him to have someone, she longs for a mother as well. It makes sense and it really comes off naturally. Our other theme is growing up, and this is mostly seen with Margot and how Gru reacts to her having an interest in a boy. These are normal issues that people face, and it’s a fun environment to see it here.

The story is different, and Gru gets to work with a partner to find the villain, as he was a villain he has an insight as to how one works. His instincts serve him well, and it’s a joy to watch those scenes with Gru and Lucy. The scenes with these two are very secret agent like, whereas the first time around we had the Bond villain vibe, here we have like a Mission Impossible type vibe. Lucy is a wonderful new character and she fit in really well. Other new characters are well handled with Eduardo (Benjamin Bratt) being really entertaining. The minions are here in spades, they provide so many comedic moments and they were used so well. Fans of the minions will absolutely be pleased, I was beaming during their moments, brilliant stuff.

Steve Carell owns his role once again, his work as voicing Gru is outstanding. He’s really made him such a loveable and memorable character. I loved him in this, he’s now right at home with the character and he really gives 110%. Kristen Wiig was fantastic as Lucy, I loved her voice work and she is really good at it. I wasn’t sure what she would be like, she’s a natural and it shows how versatile she is. Russell Brand shines once again as Dr. Nefario, he is very enjoyable when he’s on. Benjamin Bratt is super cool, he does a really comedic and memorable job as Eduardo. I loved what he brought to the table, voice work suits him. The girls are so cute once again, they do such a good job and I am glad they all returned.

Despicable Me 2 should be a real blast for fans of the original, and I think it might win over those that weren’t huge fans. It is a crowd pleasure, it’s a good time and it will have you laughing. This is turning out to be a really great series, and if they go with a third (which I am sure they will) I hope they keep this team and continue to have every day type themes, because it is endearing here.